Again it was embarrassing to see how blatantly Harper and his handlers used the pandas to avoid meeting the Aboriginal walkers. This CBC story describes the disgust which greeted Harper's cowardly decision. A St. John's Telegram editorial says:

But take it out of the realm of politics and into the world of simple politeness — a group of young Canadians, aged 18 to 21, walked 1,600 kilometres through a Canadian winter to bring a message to Ottawa.
The least the prime minister could have done is put their effort on par with a photo-op with a pair of pandas.